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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-sheet 1'. J. J. JORDAN.

SHOE.

N-0 381,929. Patented May 1, 1888.

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N. PETERS. Phulo-Lilhognphcr, Waahinglan, n.c.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. J. JORDAN.

' Patented May 1, 1888.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC JAMES J. JORDAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

, SHOE.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 381,929, dated May 1, 1888.

Application filed December 4,1886. Serial 110,220,651. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMns J. Joanna, of New York, in the county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shoes, of which the I following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention has for its object the production of an improved shoe or article of foot wear provided with a top portion made preferably in one piece and provided with novel fastening means, whereby the shoe or other article of footwear may be readily applied to the foot of the wearer and secured to the ankle with great ease and firmness without using button-hooks, laces, or other fastening means usually employed for this purpose; and to this end the invention consists in a shoe or other article of foot-wear having the top portion formed preferably in one piece open at the rear, and provided with a tongue to facilitate the application of the shoe to the foot of the wearer, and also with fastening means, as herelnafter described.

It consists, also, of a shoe or other article of foot-wear provided with a vertical. opening in the rear combined with means for closing the same, all as, hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In specifying my invention reference is had to theaccompanying drawings,whereinlike letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a rear viewof the shoe provided with my invention, the vertical opening in the rear thereof being open for the purpose of illustrating the general construction of the parts. Fig. 2 shows a rear view of the shoe with the improvement applied thereto, the rear opening being closed and the leather broken away to show the vertical fasteningstays and their connection to the metal plate secured to the counter of the shoe. Fig. 3 shows an enlarged detached detail of the blanks forming the vertical stay-pieces for the fastening devices secured in the meeting edges of the shoe. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detached detail of the fastening means. Fig. 5 is a detached sectional view of the meeting edges of the top portion of the shoe, showing the fastening clasp and stud in position. Fig. 6 shows an enlarged detached view, partly in section, of the clasp-plate and fastening-stud; and Fig. 7 shows a view of the shoe provided with a tongue of leather secured to the counter and serving the double purpose of closing the opening and as a means for drawing the shoe onto the foot of the wearer.

A represents a shoe or other article of footwear, in. which U is the upper portion, 0 the counter, and H the heel. The top portion, U, is made preferably in one piece, with an opening preferably in the rear, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, to admit of the shoe being readily applied to the foot of the wearer.

T is the tongue, lasted in the shoe and se cured to the counter to give it a firm hold, serving the double purpose of closing the opening in the rear of the shoe and to aid in drawing the shoe onto the foot of the wearer.

The improved fastening means consist, essentially, of a plate, (1, Figs. 1, 2, and 4, made preferablyof sheet metal and provided with pins (1 a, Figs. 2 and 4, said plate of metal being secured to the counter of the shoe or other article of footwear, as best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. It will be observed that the said plate a is secured in the counter O at a point immediately below the vertical opening in the top portion, U, and into the meeting edges of the said top portion, U, I place the adjusting vertical stays b b b b", the said stays being constructed, preferably, of sprlng metal and of the form best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, in which the blank b, with the side extensions, b b, are bent over the stay b, as shown in the lower part of said Fig. 3, and forming loops in which the stay 6 slides vertically as the top portion bends under the action of the foot of the wearer in walking. The portion b of the vertical stays is provided at its upper extremity with the extensions b b Fig. 3, which form a. stop, limiting the vertical play of the portion b in the loops 1)" of the portionb when the said vertical stay, composed of the portions b b, is secured in the meeting edges of the top portion, U.

It will be observed that the fabric of the top portion, U, is turned in and stitched so as to form a hem, into which the vertical stays are slipped, and the lower extremity of the portion b of the stay is riveted onto the plate a by means of the pins 0. a, as shown in Fig. i, and said pins a a constitute pivots upon which the vertical stays turn when the top portion is spread to insert the foot of the wearer.

Secured to or near the top of the vertical stays b b, on the exterior of the top portion, is a clasp-plate, 0, provided with aseries of holes or perforations, which fit over a spring-stud, d, secured at or near the top of the opposite meeting edge ofthe top portion,U, on the metal stays secured therein.

The object of the fastening devices just described is to form a substitute for the metallic lacing devices, buttons, and ordinary shoe-laces heretofore employed for the purpose of securing the shoe or other article of foot-wear to the foot, and the described devices forming my improved fastening means accomplish this desirable result, and furnish means whereby the shoe may be readily applied to the foot and secured firmly to the foot and ankle without the aid of auxiliary appliances and form a very desirable device for the purpose intended.

The tongue T, as previously stated, is lasted in the shoe and secured to the counter in the interior of the top portion at the lower part of the opening formed at the meeting edges of the top portion, and is of suitable dimensions to close the said opening and at the same time sufiieiently strong to afiford efiicient means for aiding to draw on the shoe, as hereinbefore stated.

The operation of the fastening means will be readily understood upon reference to the drawings and the consideration of the foregoing description.

The shoeis drawn onto the foot ofthe wearer by means of the strap secured to the top portion of the shoe, and the tongue T and the meeting edges are brought together and the clasp-plate 0 secured over the springstud d.

It will be seen that the two meeting edges can be almost instantly connected, with as much strain as desirable to the comfort of the wearer, and all of the desirable results or advantages of lacing are secured while the parts are free to the movement of the foot, and the fastening means are simple, compact, and not liable to get out of order, and my invention produces a very desirable and comfortable article of foot-wear.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a shoe provided with a vertical opening, two flexible metal stays, each composed of two parts adapted to slide one upon the other, said stays being pivoted at their lower ends to the plate a and provided at their upper ends with suitable fastening devices, said stays being sewed or otherwise secured within the leather of the shoe at said opening, substantially as described and shown, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a shoe-fastening device, the attachingplate a, to which is pivoted the lower ends of the two-part fiat metal stays, the parts of both of which are adapted to slide upon each other to compensate for the bending of the shoe in walking, when used in combination with a shoe provided with a vertical opening in the rear of said shoe, and a tongue, T, for the double purpose of assisting in closing said opening and in drawing on the shoe, substantially as described and shown.

3. In a shoe of the class described, the combination of the two-part flexible stays b b and b 1), adapted to slide freely upon each other, pivoted at their lower ends to the plate a and provided at their upper ends with the multiple take-up plate 0 and springstud substantially as described.

4. In a shoe of the class herein described, provided with a vertical opening in the rear thereof, the combination of stays secured within the folds of themeeting edges of said opening, adapted to yield to the motion of the foot of the wearer, one of said stays being provided with side extensions adapted to fold over and envelop the other stay, the projection I), take-up plate 0, and stud d, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination of the flat metal stays b b, provided with extensions I), project-ion 0 said stays being pivoted to the plate a, and provided with clasp c and spring-stud (1, substantially as described and shown.

In testimony whereofI have hereunto signed my name, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, at Syracuse,in the count-y of Onondaga, in the State of New York, this 30th day of November, 1886. A

JAMES J. JORDAN.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK H. GIBBS, E. G. CANNON. 

